


The ‘I hate Tony Stark' Club

by The_Magic_Lava_Lamp



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-02 10:42:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19439806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Magic_Lava_Lamp/pseuds/The_Magic_Lava_Lamp
Summary: Bucky & Steve, childhood best friends, have been living together for a while now after being separated at the end of high-school. Together again, they’ve been maneuvering through their twenties. And through new relationships when Steve found his way to Tony Stark, another old classmate.While making some changes to his room, Bucky discovers a box of middle school memories. The old photos are hilarious but the real amazing finds are the old notebooks he and Steve used to pass around during class.It’s time they rediscover being the founding members of the good ol’ ‘I hate Tony Stark’ club during their sixth grade year.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments!!

It all started during the week when Bucky’s bed was slowly deteriorating and had lost all sense of comfort. The mattress was cheap...he remembered buying it at a garage sale when he was first moving in with Steve. Of course, he had neglected to listen to his friends protests against it at the time because he felt it was a total steal. 

But now the thing was torn and springs were popping out from odd places and scratching the hell out of his skin at night. He waited it out for another week before deciding it was time to get that piece of shit replaced. 

So, Sunday morning found Bucky pulling the damn thing off his bed-frame while a new one sat waiting on his floor. This one had been cheap too but at the very least it had a brand-name on the tag and didn’t come used from someone’s bedroom just the day before. So that was a good sign. 

The mattress plopped onto the hardwood but as he was about to start settling in the new one, he spotted a plastic bin or two under his bed-frame. “I store shit under my bed?” He raised a brow because...’Since when?’. He was entirely sure by just looking at the neat boxes that Steve had gotten sick of him throwing his stuff in the hall closet & had just shoved them under the bed for him. He rolled his eyes but sat down on his floor to take a look, shoving his mattress out of the way. 

There were two boxes. But crumpled up against the side of the blue lid bin was a small, grainy photo that ignited Bucky’s interest in an instant so he slid that one between his legs. 

‘Oh God’. Middle school. Of course. He recognized his sixth grade classroom astoundingly fast considering he hadn’t seen it in a long time. But this was the funniest Goddamn picture he’d ever seen in his life and he was dying to show it off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His first instinct was to show it to Sam. 

Sam and Steve supposedly met in college through some program. And that lead to them working together. Steve says they had hit it off since the beginning. In all honesty, Bucky didn’t like it at first. Not for any weird reason. Just that growing up...Steve had been his only friend. Best friend. So there was some jealousy there on his part when he came back into Steve’s life to find him with a new ‘best’ friend. But things changed. He and Sam found a little rhythm for a friendship...at least he hoped that’s what they had. Sometimes, he was sure they just tolerated each other. 

Bucky happily strolled into the coffee shop with a wide grin plastered on his face that might’ve been a little unusual. 

“What the hell happened to you?” Sam took once glance and was struck by the giddiness within his friend. Bucky was usually a little bit more reserved when it came to his emotions but at the moment, he was probably a minute away from skipping. 

Steve and Tony took the time to actually look up from their...intense conversation at Sam’s comment. They looked as if they’d been pulled from something extremely intimate judging by Steve’s blush. Bucky wondered how Steve’s bed was holding up. 

His eyes fell upon Steve’s and he couldn’t hide his little smirk.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” 

Instead of answering him, Bucky took his usual seat next to Sam (pulling the chair a little closer). He then made a show of holding up the photo, the back facing towards his lovely audience while Sam’s eyes widened. “Oh my God.” He snatched the photo to get a better look and started uncontrollably laughing. It pressed Steve intensely when he wasn’t in on a joke...especially if it was about him. “Can I keep this picture?” Sam wiped under his eyes and held the photo against his chest. Bucky grinned even wider, it was just the reaction he’d hoped for. 

“Let us in on the joke, Greasy.” Tony threw one of his charming little smiles their way and pulled himself out of his odd slouched way of sitting. The man had excellent posture on most days but sometimes he’d fold himself up in a way that looked painful but apparently was totally comfortable for him. He pat Steve’s thigh gently. 

Sam turned over the hysterical little thing. 

“That is...stunning. Honestly.” Tony lit up in that way one does when they see something so embarrassing for someone else. Steve just looked at it with all the love in his heart. 

The photo was of Bucky and Steve when they were just kids. Opposites. So painfully obvious...that it dripped from that photo. 

Steve, in all his glory, was a skinny little bright blonde boy and to his left was Bucky....his long black hair covering a good chunk of his face but matched well in his all black clothes. 

Sam took the picture again and it was apparent that his laughing fit was starting again. 

“Oh, I love it.” Steve tried to take it back and after a few seconds of playful swatting, Sam handed it back over. Steve cuddled into the couch and admired the photo from his childhood while Tony inched closer. He attempted to settle with his body leaning against his boyfriend’s while he too got a better look. “This was Mrs.....” Steve trailed off as he tried to remember. 

“Mr. Darby’s class.” Bucky corrected. 

Tony’s eyebrows shot up as some memory occurred to him. “Oh, I remember him.” he dragged his finger over his lip and his eyes glazed over. Steve smacked his arm gently. “His hands were huge. Do you remember that?” Tony curled up further on the seat and leaned heavily into his boyfriend. “They were like boxing gloves.” He lolled his head back, chin now pointed to the ceiling. 

Steve playfully grabbed Tony’s chin and pulled it back down. As he went to let his hand fall back into his lap, Tony grabbed at it and ushered the arm around his body. 

“I’m gonna dig through that box just to get your embarrassing pictures.” Bucky grinned and leaned forward, arms resting on his thighs. 

“Don’t exist, sorry.” Tony pursed his lips. 

“Count yourself lucky that you didn’t know us in middle school or high school, Sam.” Steve turned back to their friend who was leaning back on his chair. It was times like this when Steve worried that Sam felt excluded in their friendship. He didn’t want this to feel like some secret little club but maybe it came off that way. 

“You were bad enough in college.” Sam smoothly stole the photo again and crossed his arms. Tony perked up even more than he’d been the past few minutes. College Steve stories were his favorite to hear. Beyond favorite. The last Tony had seen of Steve before they found each other again was that graduation party he’d hosted. After that, Tony skipped the ceremony, packed his shit and took off for MIT. That night had left him with what he thought was a good idea of Steve...but Sam’s rambunctious tales of the blonde in college....well that almost made Tony want to question himself on that. Almost.

“Don’t tell that keg party story again.” Bucky rolled his eyes and almost smacked Sam’s hand away when he felt it gently pat his back. 

“Listen bud, you got him from ages twelve to what...? Eighteen. I got him for the interesting parts of life.” He chuckled when Bucky gave him a death glare. It wasn’t as if Bucky was still behaving like his sixth grade self who would accidentally-on-purpose scare away potential new friends for Steve. But sometimes he felt like he was right back to being that scared little kid faced with losing his only pal. 

“C’mon chin up, young buck.” Tony winked. “We’ll all go to your place and you can show me all the pictures while these two swap the dumb stories we weren’t there for, huh? We’ll make a day of it.” 

Bucky rolled his lips together and allowed a smile through again. 

“Actually, I have plans.” Sam began to stand and Steve frowned. 

“You have other friends?” Bucky teased with his signature smirk that Sam saw more and more of these days. 

“I’m meeting my sister for lunch, actually.” He smacked Bucky’s arm and took his jacket off the arm of the couch.

“Where are-?

“Yeah, I’ll bring back those sweet potato fries for you.” Sam answered the actual question Bucky wanted to ask before he could even finish and the man nearly blushed, Steve noticed. Bucky was still a little bit shy about the subject of having well...more than 1 friend. It was sweet. It threw him off sometimes when Tony or Sam were especially kind to him. 

“Thanks, sweetheart.” And there was that charm again, smoothly escaping Bucky’s lips like he hadn’t been flushed a few seconds ago. Sweetheart was a new nickname he’d taken to teasing Sam with because it bothered the hell outta him. 

And with quick goodbyes, Sam was off. 

“Isn’t he nice? He never brings me back food and I’m a slut for french fries.” Tony quipped, quickly throwing his body into a new seating position. Steve settled his hand back onto Tony’s thigh as if it were second nature.

“And that’s why.” Bucky rolled his eyes and smiled at the passing waitress. 

Tony chuckled into his last sip of coffee and made a point to savor the taste. “Come on, the three of us are having our date night.” He stood and attempted to pull his larger boyfriend up with him. “We’ll decide which one of you’s gonna be the third-wheel when we get there, sound good?” He threw a wink past Steve’s shoulder to Bucky and turned to leave. 

Steve felt a rush of joy go through his body. Tony and Bucky had come a long way too. There was a time when he’d been afraid they’d just never get along past toleration. They just clashed. However lately, the two of them were clicking. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I just wanna know what you were thinking?” Tony wiggled the photo in front of Bucky as the two huddled onto the floor, the bin between them. Steve was doing his absolute best not to interrupt too much, in fear that something might ruin this moment of peaceful friendship between the two of them. If he wasn’t so scared to break it up, he might’ve pulled out his phone to sneak a picture. 

“I....” Bucky took the picture from him and looked at his younger self and smiled. 

“The correct answer is that you weren’t thinking.” Tony rolled his eyes and stole the picture again. 

“Well, look at this and speak for yourself.” Bucky chuckled as he found just the right picture of their whole sixth grade class. Little Tony Stark looking dorky as ever. Steve perked up and scooted from couch to floor to steal the photo. 

“Awwww, Tony. You were such a cute kid, I almost forgot.” 

“Hey, would it kill ya to be on my side?” Bucky pinched Steve’s arm and narrowed his eyes. But Tony was already glowing with that compliment. Bucky wanted to dig something else up that would embarrass him, his competitive side kicking in slightly. So as his two friends began flirting, he stuck his hands deep in the bin and pulled out a small pile. 

A few photos spilled over but what really interested him were the three notebooks at the bottom. They were...very aged. The paper was thinning and the covers were nearly ripped off but they felt good in his hands. “Awww Steve, you know what these are?” He licked his lips and started to laugh. 

“Oh my god, you kept these?” He broke his eye contact with Tony and reached for the blue notebook sitting on top. 

“These are what we passed around in class to y’know to talk to each other.” Bucky handed one over to Tony, eager to hear some more snarky comments. “I think you got seventh grade there...” He glanced at the one Tony was now flipping through. “Steve’s got eighth.” 

And with that, the three of them silently dove into their notebooks with curiosity and warmth. But before Bucky could really get into his sixth grade treasure, Tony was already beginning to poke fun. 

“Bucky, wrote: Do you want to come over after school today?....” Tony paused, barely holding in laughter. “And Steve replied: Can’t...-mom’s taking me to get my flu shot after school-” Tony’s dramatic reading was heightened by the little fits of giggles that shook his entire body. Bucky couldn’t contain his laughter either. God, he loved Steve but he was such a dork. 

“It was flu season.” Steve chuckled and reached over his friend to smack Tony gently. “Why is that funny?” 

Tony and Bucky shared a quiet look before both bursting into eerily accurate Steve impressions. “Mom’s taking me to get my flu shot after school.” And they collapsed in laughter. 

While Steve didn’t see the humor, his heart just about burst from seeing them so comfortable around each other and actually bonding....even if it was to make fun of him. They shuffled closer as they all tried to get a good look at the notebook in Tony’s grip, side-tracked from their own. 

“Today Steve decided to hang-out with...” Tony turned his head at an angle as if that might help him read Bucky’s terrible handwriting. “Adam Cunningham. He’s not really Steve’s friend though, he only hangs out with him when I make him angry.” Tony covered his mouth to laugh. 

Bucky shook his head at his twelve year old self. He remembered how bratty he used to be when it came to Steve having other friends. He picked at the carpet and chuckled. 

“This is an interesting half-conversation...what’s this about?” Tony handed the notebook over to Steve and Bucky leaned in to read over his shoulder. His horrible writing replying to Steve’s dainty style was enough to make him giggle again. 

“You know what this was?” Steve bumped his friends arm and pointed at their rushed, angry looking messages. “When you were mad at me for trying to fight that seventh grade bully....what was his name...?” 

“Devin.” Bucky nodded, 100% remembering that day. “It was during recess. He shoved some kid and you thought it was only logical to step in.” He shook his head. 

“Well, I had to stand-up for him.” Steve shrugged. 

“Yeah that’s nice and all but the moment had passed and Devin was like a head taller than you and could’ve kicked your ass, if I hadn’t been there.” He rolled his eyes. 

“But-”

“I didn’t mean to dig up that fossil of a fight but this is pretty entertaining.” Tony chuckled and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. “I remember that. I thought you were looking to get yourself killed.” Tony scrunched up his nose. 

“Big talk from someone who’d never shut his mouth. How many times did you mouth off to some kid and get in trouble?” Steve poked his arm but Tony just shrugged. 

Bucky flipped his notebook open to find something to do while Steve and Tony either started fighting or flirting. He was expecting to find more of their little conversations and funny little doodles but he hadn’t expected to have his attention drawn intensely to the first page so quickly. 

Written in big, bubble letters with a fading pencil were the words: 

‘I hate Tony Stark club’ 

His mouth gaped into a large ‘o’ and he had to hold back the bursts of laughter that he felt in the back of his throat and pit of his stomach. 

“Steve-” He broke to laugh, leaning backwards as he grabbed his friends arm. “Look what I found.” 

Steve glanced over without paying too much attention....until his eyes found the words and they widened instantly. He swiped the notebook and held it over his lap. “I forgot about this...” 

Tony wanted in on the fun, as always, and literally crawled over Bucky to get to Steve and swiped the notebook from him. Steve was rather horrified at the sight but Bucky was still giggling as Tony read it. 

“Oh wow.” He looked at it for a few seconds before following Bucky into huge fits of laughter, seemingly relieving Steve. “Let me get this straight...” He wiggled his finger at the two of them. “The two of you were in a club-”

“Started a club.” Bucky interrupted with a wide smirk.

“Were founders of a club-” Tony fixed his statement rather fondly. “In which you would just...ban together to hate me?” 

Steve shyly nodded his head. 

“This was...?”

“Sixth grade.” Bucky took the notebook and set it on the coffee table they were sitting in front of. 

“We’ve been dating for nearly a year and you never once told me that you were in a ‘I hate Tony stark’ club.” Nothing in Tony’s tone read angry so Steve figured he was safe to grin. 

“You broke our pact!” Bucky clicked his tongue and held out the second page that read. ‘We will not hang-out with Tony Stark for any reason (even partner projects) for all of eternity.’ 

Tony doubled over in laughter and Steve felt a rush of memories. “Oh I love this. I say we reinstate this club.” Tony leaned forward to flip through the thin pages some more. “I wanna be the head because nobody hates me more than myself-” 

“Don’t say that Tony.” Steve pursed his lips and gently shoved him. “I hate it when you talk like that.” He frowned but Tony only went on. 

“I wanna have these pages framed, I swear.” 

“I was only part of this club because I had a major crush on you and had no idea what that meant.” Steve rubbed behind his ear and nearly blushed when Tony looked back at him with a glowing grin. “So it was really more of an ‘I secretly love Tony’ club.” 

“Not for me it wasn’t. I actually hated you.” Bucky reassured Tony with a gentle pat to his arm. Tony laid his hand over Bucky’s and patted back. 

“Thanks, buddy.” and with that, he dove into the journal. 

“Steve got partnered up with Tony for an assignment & I heard him laughing. I’m not gonna talk to him for four days.” 

Tony could barely finish reading that without collapsing and the three of them were struggling for air. 

“Wait, wait but Steve wrote a reply...” Bucky pointed and the three of them read aloud:

“It was a pity laugh.” 

All three of them nearly choked on their laughter before they continued. 

The pages of the notebook were covered in messages to and from Steve and Bucky about Tony and sometimes other classmates who tried to butt-in on their friendship. As they flipped through, they came across several doodles.

“For someone who hated me....” Tony gave Steve a fond look. “You sure did draw me a lot.” 

Steve ran his hand over the pencil drawings and felt like a kid again. 

“How on earth you didn’t figure out your best friend was in love with me...that’s beyond me.” Tony gently bumped Bucky who was reading some of Steve’s entries in a new light. 

“Tony winked at me in class today...I didn’t like the way it made me feel-” 

Bucky had to scoot backwards and almost screamed but it was really more of a squeal. Steve was blushing insanely red and Tony looked about ready to propose to him right then and there. 

“How didn’t I notice this?” Bucky looked betrayed. “I’m offended, honestly. We were supposed to be hating him.” He playfully shoved Steve. 

“I guess hating Tony has always been impossible for me.” 

“Ew.” Bucky gagged. 

Tony looked up from the notebook and smiled. “So you two would just write about me?” 

“Basically. There was that rumor though, remember?” Bucky crinkled his brows as he remembered that period in time. It wasn’t something he was proud of but he was sure Steve had told Tony about that by now considering their lives after middle school. 

“What rumor?” Tony gently lowered the journal, big brown eyes in full view. 

Steve glanced at his friend with a look of confusion but Bucky was looking at Tony. 

“You know, the rumor that you were gay.” 

Tension filled the air in seconds flat, so fast that it gave Bucky chills. 

“See...” Tony slowly slithered the book back onto the table with heat in his eyes. “This is where it stops being funny.” 

Steve and Bucky’s stomachs dropped. 

“You were the ones that started that?” 

Steve opened his mouth but Tony was quick to jump. 

“I got bullied to hell for that.” His eyes looked swelled with emotion. “That shit didn’t end until I graduated high school.” He stood up and started pacing the floor, Bucky moved his feet over to give him some moving space. 

“Tony I-” Steve got up to follow him and suddenly Bucky felt incredibly uncomfortable. He hated when they fought, especially if he was the only other person in the room. He really wished Sam was here. 

“I was just projecting.” Steve had stopped trying to follow him and was now waiting on the other end of carpet. “I liked you and I didn’t know how to deal with it because it was the sixth grade.” He shrugged. 

“I got forced out of the closet when I was eleven. Before I even fully understood that.” Tony suddenly stood still and the tension only grew. “I’m going home.” was all he said before turning to storm out. Steve attempted to follow but Tony just slammed the door after him. 

“Steve, I didn’t mean to-” Bucky stood and attempted to apologize, feeling awful. He just had to open his gigantic mouth, didn’t he? But Steve just rolled his lips together and took off after his boyfriend. 

The door slamming once more. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

A soft knock on the door sometime later nearly startled Bucky who was in the process of making himself some dinner and still anxiously awaiting Steve’s return. “It’s open.” 

He shut the open drawer with his hip just as the door clicked and in walked Sam. 

“Hey, Steve around or did he go over to Tony’s?” 

Bucky shrugged. He knew he and Sam weren’t very close, maybe they didn’t even consider each other friends, but it still stung nonetheless that Sam was hoping to catch him instead. Maybe it was just because of the day he’d had. 

“You alright, man?” He asked, sliding over a to-go box from across the counter as he took in the hurt-puppy look on Bucky’s face. 

Bucky bit his lip. He’d almost forgotten about those fries he’d asked for and he half-expected Sam to forget as well. “I think....” He paused and ran his thumb over his lip. “I think I broke Steve and Tony up.” 

Sam’s eyebrows raised as he calmly leaned over the counter. “How did that happen? I leave you guys for half the day and all hell breaks loose?” He chuckled but Bucky did not join him. He cleared his throat awkwardly and waited for an explanation.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts on this chapter!!

“Eat your fries.” Sam glanced up from the notebook Bucky had gladly handed over only to find the man anxiously picking at his nails. He tried to give him a kind smile but sometimes he just didn’t know how the man would react to that. He was...a character, that guy. His large doe eyes gave the impression that he was actually a hell of a lot sweeter than he was to Sam. He’d been through some kind of car wreck that cost him an arm just shortly after he’d fallen out with Steve but he was now up to the point where he could laugh about it. Bucky was a nocturnal, interesting and irritating old soul that could have jumped straight from the pages of a Stephen King book. Though Sam hadn’t even finished one book by the guy, he felt that it was accurate nonetheless. Finding out he was that kind of kid in middle school who growled...well, that was just plain fitting for the puzzle that Bucky was. 

“I paid good money for those and I doubt you’ve eaten more than crappy snacks today so at least get some hot food in you...” He waved his hand and flicked to another page. 

Wordlessly, Bucky flipped the foam lid up and started in on the fries. 

“Tony got mad because of this?” Sam quirked his brow and set the journal down and watched as his friend tried to speak before swallowing, he could be such a pig. “Close your mouth.” His nose scrunched up and he regretted that in an instant because it was always those reactions that only spurred Bucky on. 

Bucky opened his mouth wide in hopes that Sam got a nice peak of the now creamy sweet potato. 

“Your disgusting.” Sam felt like gagging but the sight of the guy triumphantly licking his lips and swallowing...that calmed him a little. 

“Anyway, Tony was mad because of something else. He actually loved the notebook.” Bucky stood on his tip-toes as if he wasn’t already tall enough to lean over and look. 

“Wouldn’t put it past him.” Sam scoffed and went about digging some more through the bin. Tony was a whole other mess of a character. Sam claims the normalcy of their little group (no matter what Natasha or Bucky had to say about it). He picked up a small pile of photos and started leisurely flicking through them while Bucky stuffed his face some more. “Oh man.” 

“What?” Bucky’s attention was pulled away from the delicious food to find another picture of his moody young self. “That was...let me see...” He waved his hand and Sam handed the photo over. “Eighth grade. Can tell because I was really trying to grow my hair out that year.” He grinned. 

“But were you washing it because...?” Sam widened his eyes and playfully slapped Bucky when the man had the audacity to pinch his arm. “And it was covering your eyes, man. Those steel blue eyes are one of your best traits.” He squinted at the photo and didn’t catch the way Bucky rolled his eyes. 

“Shut-up.” He took a selfishly long drink of his water and sat on the stool next to Sam instead of awkwardly leaning over from the other side. “I wasn’t aware that I had best traits.” He put air-quotes around ‘best’ and went reaching into the gold-mine for himself. 

“Ahh, modesty. That’s another one of them.” Sam clicked his fingers extremely close to Bucky’s face and enjoyed the look of annoyance. 

“Moving on.” Bucky scowled and started a tiny pile of the photos he’d like to keep out. “Tony...well.” He struggled to find his words for a second or two but picked up when Sam gently nudged him a little. “He found out or...ok well, I told him but only because I thought he already knew-” 

“Get to the point, Barnes.” 

Bucky seemed to appreciate whenever Sam was a little blunt. “Steve and I kinda spread a rumor about him in the sixth grade. It had a bigger effect than we thought it would.” Bucky glanced at him with his sad doe eyes and Sam felt heat in the pit of his stomach. 

“Which was...?” 

“We told people that he was gay.” Bucky shrugged but Sam knew that he was currently killing himself over it just by looking at his face. “And it followed him up to high-school.” He scratched behind his ear and pushed his hair back, a nervous tick. 

“That is cold.” Sam nodded and Bucky took that in with a knowing look. He was about to speak again but Bucky was quick to interrupt. 

“I never would have spread it if...” He bit his lip and rolled his eyes when he thought about his eleven year self. “I didn’t know what gay meant.” He admitted, feeling a little dumb. 

Sam couldn't help but break his posture to sigh into an amused but fond smile. “Perfectly understandable considering you were a stupid little sixth grader.” He could tell that Bucky got a lot of comfort out of that comment. 

“And if I had known at that time...I wouldn’t have thought that was funny at all.” He widened his eyes as if that comment shocked him too but he was in fact, very casual about this. Sam leaned forward. “Because, y’know, I would’ve finally had the word for what I was.” He chuckled but still looked incredibly guilty. The way he spoke about it heavily implied that he thought Sam knew this fact which was far from the truth. 

Sam felt like an idiot. How had he missed the fact that Bucky was actually gay? He always thought his flirting was missed on the guy because he was just straight. 

“That wasn’t even the rumor I wanted to spread.” He wiggled his finger and drew Sam’s full attention again. He was good at that. 

“And what did you wanna spread?” Sam crossed his arms. 

“Only the classic reputation crushing sixth grade rumor.” He genuinely smiled for the first time since Sam walked in. “That he still slept with a teddy-bear.” 

He shrugged and went for another fry when Sam started to laugh. Boy, he really adored this guy. 

“I tried to...” Bucky waved his hand out but let it fall when the words wouldn’t come to him.

Sam decided he’d buy the guy some time with a little distraction and went through another stack of photos. He’d been expecting more of the middle school stuff but he’d pulled out something entirely different. 

“Oh, that’s gotta be....near the end of Freshman year.” Bucky gladly took the bait and leaned over Sam’s shoulder. 

“What the hell happened to you?” Sam could hardly hold in his shock. Sure, he’d been aware that both Bucky and Steve had to have their growth spurts and all that puberty junk at some point but...the change (at least in the photos) was abrupt. 

“Football and Baseball, mostly.” Bucky’s eyes narrowed, trying to place the memory. 

The photo was obviously candid considering the odd angle and general relaxed expression on Bucky’s face. Someone, his best guess was Steve, had taken the photo after what looked like a successful baseball game. Bucky had his bat slung across his shoulders with his arms loosely hooked around it. His sleeves were pushed to the crook of his elbows and the red fabric was tight around his skin. The sun was setting behind him and for an old photo, the moisture of the raindrops was pretty clear on his face. It must’ve just begun to sprinkle. 

“I’m guessing, you got really popular, huh?” Sam nudged his arm gently. 

Bucky glanced at his lap and shuffled in his seat, it took Sam all but a week into their friendship to realize the guy did not know how to take compliments to save his life. But that never stopped him from throwing them at him constantly. In fact, it only encouraged Sam. “Steve was better suited for it but...” He shrugged. 

“There’s that modesty again.” Sam rolled his eyes. 

“What were you like in high-school?” Bucky wondered out-loud and Sam crossed his arms in thought. 

“I was...” He paused, glancing at Bucky. “I did very well.” He threw him a smug smile. 

“Oh, alright.” Bucky rolled his eyes and went for another fry. 

“Definitely wouldn’t have been your friend in middle school.” Sam scoffed and slid another picture to him. “Would’ve avoided you at all costs.” He shook his head at the image of the moody eleven year old. 

“Can’t blame ya for that.” Bucky clicked his tongue. “I did growl at people...” His face turned to that amused yet grumpy expression that Sam really liked. He took the high-school photo from Sam and sighed. “High School’s when I tried to...control Tony’s rumor.” Bucky finally got out what he’d been hoping to explain. 

“Control?” 

“Yeah. I would...tell people that he was straight cause I’d seen him with girl and I would just make stuff like that up in the hopes that people would...lay off of him.” Bucky pursed his lips. “Once I’d figured myself out...I felt horrible.” 

“I’m guessing, you guys didn’t come out in High-School?” Sam found himself wondering. In College, Steve had kept his dating life private. In fact, Sam never really saw him flirt with anybody let alone date. There’d been fleeting moments where he’d mention how attractive some guy was but that was it. The first few times it happened, Steve sounded as if he were testing the waters to see how Sam would react...and maybe even how he’d react to himself. 

“No.” Bucky shook his head and scooted a bit closer. “Steve had two girlfriends, I think.” He shrugged. “I didn’t even know he was gay until we found each other again. Same for him with me. But I mean, the signs were all there, weren’t they?” He shoved the notebook over to Sam with a roll of his eyes. 

“I tell ya, it was a lot for Steve to take in. He found out I was gay and that I’d lost my arm in the span of like two seconds after we met up again.” Bucky laughed.

“But anyway, around Sophomore year, we both figured ourselves out. Just never said anything about it.” And he continued to speak with his mouth full. It was as if he’d never been scolded for it. It was endearing and...

“That’s still disgusting Bucky, close your damn mouth.” That was the second time he’d told him now. Bucky only grinned. 

“You know, you shouldn’t beat yourself up for this.” Sam tapped the spot on the table next to Bucky’s hand. “You were kids. It was an honest mistake that just got...bigger than you.” 

Bucky took his words into consideration but still looked incredibly moody. “Tony probably hates me...even more than before.” He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Steve’s gonna be pissed cause we already barely got along.” He fell back into his chair and resembled a pouting child. “But maybe that won’t even matter cause I broke them up, anyway.” He threw his arms out. 

Sam rolled his eyes. “Your a big baby, anyone ever tell you that?” He gently bumped their arms again and Bucky looked up at him with a scowl. “You can apologize to Tony first thing tomorrow.” He got up to throw away the empty foam container. “But for now, you’re gonna wipe that pout off your face and enjoy my company.” Sam hopped off his chair and made himself comfortable on Bucky’s couch. 

“That’d be a first.” Bucky, as charming as ever, followed him and nearly shook the couch as he thumped down next to him. Heat filled the pit of Sam’s stomach when he realized this was one of the few times he and Bucky would be alone together...and maybe without insulting each other (as much). 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What part of ‘don’t follow me’, was missed on you?” Tony narrowed his eyes but allowed Steve to pace the length of his living room. It occured to him that he wasn’t really enforcing the idea of ‘get out of my house’ to the best of his ability but part of him liked the show. 

“Tony, did you honestly think I would just let you leave when you were that angry? I have to explain, I have to-” 

“Make excuses? You already did that.” Tony clicked his tongue and flicked his hand, fully aware that he was treading very close to bitchiness. But he was definitely going to allow it this time. 

Between the two of them there was a large couch, two love seats and a coffee table that was covered in papers but Tony wanted more space. He was in the mood for some healthy isolation. He decided to fidget with the designs he’d been working on in his kitchen while Steve tried to explain. He’d left some mock-ups on his counter that morning to tinker with later and now was the perfect time. 

“Tony...” Steve’s voice was small as he approached the counter, slowly. But his boyfriend merely raised a brow as he examined some of his notes. “Can you at least look at me?” His voice got way too small for Tony’s comfort and he couldn’t help but give the blonde what he wanted and found his eye-line. Brown met blue and Tony waited for his apology. 

“I just don’t see why this is such a big deal.” 

Tony slammed his papers down and went to his fridge just so he wouldn’t have to look at Steve in that moment. 

“Wait Tony, I didn’t mean it like that. I just.” Steve took a deep breath to steady himself. “I really, really liked you and it terrified me-” He couldn’t help but vividly feel those same feelings he had in the sixth grade. All that mixed up shit of always wanting to be Tony’s project partner yet not wanting to admit that he even liked him as a friend. He’d only heard the term ‘gay’ a few times in their class and never in good context....it had been horrifying to attach himself to a word that their classmates whispered in disgust. So he’d pinned it on Tony... before anyone could pin it on him. 

“I know that, Steve. I get it.” Tony twirled back to him with an unreadable expression. “But you got to have that great High-School experience. A Football player, popular and chicks dug you.” Tony winked but it wasn’t with his usual charm and it made Steve’s stomach drop. 

“Maybe my chances of having that weren’t that great for me anyway, being that I was a...” He paused “Dork, though I prefer the word intellectual, who had nothing but a snarky attitude to his name but...” he shrugged. “That rumor completely wrecked my experience. At least you got to figure yourself out in peace. I was being called names before I even understood my gay thoughts.” 

Tony let his expressive hands fall and Steve stepped back. For a moment, they were eerily silent. 

“Tony I-” 

“I just want to....” He gestured absentmindedly to his papers. “Get some work done. You should go home.” He nodded. He didn’t sound all that angry anymore and that was terrifying. 

Steve wasn’t about to let their relationship end because of this. Not when they were finally getting serious. This couldn’t have come at a worse time. In fact, they’d been planning on moving in together in just a short time and been hoping to bring up the idea of Sam taking his place as Bucky’s roommate in the next few days. Either that or Tony’s plan was to just start moving Steve out and moving Sam in without blatantly mentioning it to Bucky at all, which honestly probably would have worked flawlessly. 

“This isn’t...-I mean, you’re not....?” Steve couldn’t finish his questions, nerves bubbling from his stomach to his throat. 

Tony rolled back on the heels of his feet and let his arms swing, deep in thought. “I’m not sure. What I do know is-” He took a deep breath. “This...” He waved his hand between them and Steve followed the motion with watery blue eyes. “Will be put on hold. A break, if you will?” He scratched the base of his throat. “Just a little breather.” It almost sounded as if the last sentence was meant to reassure Steve. 

Steve’s chest suddenly felt too constricting for his heart, which was beating abnormally fast. “Tony, let’s keep talking, please. I want to fix this so that we can get back to where we were. I didn’t-” He took in some more air to steady himself. “We’re coming up on the big stuff.” He sounded pathetic and maybe a little childish with the phrasing but all his life, Steve just wanted to settle down and start his life with a partner. And they were nearly there. 

“And it’s been a great trip but every once in a while, you gotta take a piss at the rest-stop before you go again.” Tony’s nose scrunched up at the end “Not my best analogy but we’ll take it.” He nodded to himself, chin to the floor. “I’ll see you when I see you. But for now, it’s best you go home.” And with that, Tony turned and went for his bedroom. He trusted Steve to show himself out. 

And eventually, Steve did. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Sam was stealing the tiniest glances at Bucky while the man fought to stay awake. His chin dipped every few seconds and his eyes would flutter close before shooting open at a loud sound effect from the TV. 

He was tempted to smack the hand out from under the man’s chin when he started to drift again, it was something they’d done to each other over twenty times in their ‘friendship’ already. But Sam was finding that he didn’t have the heart to interrupt the peaceful moment. 

Thankfully, he didn’t. Steve’s loud door slamming is what woke Bucky permanently. 

Bucky shuffled out of his lazy position and crawled to the edge of the couch, hand gripping tightly onto the arm. “Steve-?” 

Steve didn’t look mad, however, absolutely devastated was a good word for it. “We’re taking a break.” He clicked his tongue and shrugged. He looked as if he was fresh from a fight, feeling utter defeat. Bucky felt his stomach drop at the sight. This was completely his fault. 

Sam must’ve felt his quick drop and patted Bucky’s thigh before standing to face Steve. It somehow felt odd that it was a friendly touch instead of their usual playful fighting kind. “Tony’s gonna come around, Steve. What’s in the past, is in the past. It sucked but...” He shrugged, stealing a small glance at Bucky who looked just as heartbroken as Steve. “You were just kids.” 

“That’s what I tried to say.” He gently sat himself on the chair next to the couch and sighed. “This whole thing is just a mess.” He rubbed his hand against his forehead. 

“I’m sorry, Steve. I didn't mean to start this. I honestly thought he knew about that.” Bucky was uncharacteristically nervous and almost vulnerable, Sam hadn’t ever seen him like that. But he supposed that was because they weren’t very close, at least not like Bucky was with Steve. 

He waited for Steve to give him a reply, eyes wide and curious. 

“It’s fine. You’re fine. I just-” Steve waved his hand and Sam could tell there was some lingering angry feelings towards Bucky that he refused to voice. Steve was always careful with his friends feelings, an endearing though irritating trait, that went double with Bucky. 

“If you’re mad, I get it-” 

“I’m not mad.” 

“But Steve-”

“Bucky, It’s fine.” Steve gave a firm answer and Sam could see where this was heading and it wasn’t good. 

“Alright. Everybody simmer down.” Sam held out his hands. 

“I said, I’m not mad.” Steve let out a frustrated sigh and decided to give up on friendly chat, he wasn’t in the mood. He heaved himself up and went straight for his room, shutting the door behind him. 

Bucky rolled over from where he’d been sitting and tipped his chin back to sigh. “This is gonna be a fun night.” He practically growled but then his eyes lit up almost as soon as they met Sam’s. 

“What?” He felt the need to step back, a little nervous under Bucky’s sudden stare. 

“You should stay over! At least until Steve’s had dinner.” Bucky was suddenly crawling back towards the end of the couch and Sam was willing himself to move but he couldn’t. The man stopped at the edge and slowly raised himself, Sam could feel Bucky’s breath pass his stomach as he moved to met his eyes. “As a buffer. You could be my Adam Cunningham.” 

“Am I supposed to know who that is?” Sam was completely thrown. 

“He was some kid that Steve would pal around with whenever I pissed him off. Y’know, to get back at me.” Bucky waved his hands around. 

Man, that guy could be so oblivious to how his thoughts sound to other people. Sam was amazed at how many people Bucky managed to accidentally piss off. And he’d been one of those people plenty of times before, so he tried not to take too much offense. 

Sam rolled his eyes. “Thanks, that’s a real nice way to look at me comforting you for the last hour.” 

Bucky chuckled. “I know we’re not...the closest.” He shrugged and Sam gave him a look that implied he was correct. “But you were nice to hang-out with today and I really don’t want to be alone with Steve.” 

Sam sighed, wondering how bad it could be. He’d be right in the middle of their tension and that would be torture. But, hanging with Bucky could be fun. They’d never hung out alone together before. Sam had tried to flirt with the idea before but Bucky never really got the clue, maybe it was all the teasing. 

“Yeah, Alright. But, I wanna hear more embarrassing school stories.” Sam gave in and made his way around to the other side of the couch. 

“You got more college stories?” 

“About Steve? Tons.” Sam proceeded to launch into some of his favorite embarrassing Steve stories. 

It was a nice end to the day until he started to convince himself that he was just a pawn in some spiteful game that Bucky was playing on Steve.


End file.
